So I decided to jump into a saltwater aquarium so to speak. To start it is a 75 gallon tank, coralife light fixture, fluval 406 canister filter, aquaclear power head flowing in the opposite direction of the output of the canister filter, I have a 300 watt heater, and a bubble wall. Oh and the lights are coralife 50/50 65 watt light bulbs. I have the sand, base rock (getting more tomorrow and live rock tomorrow too), and the salt in. Besides a protein skimmer what else would be Recommended for start up. I've read a lot of start up info on here and learned a lot. Also can you mix different types of base rock?

You can skip the bubble wall, totally not necessary in saltwater. You will have salt creep and residue everywhere if you use it.
You can mix and match all your rock if you like. I find it gives a better look when its all different kinds. I usually start with about 25% live rock and the rest base rock. Look at the rock at either

Both sites have rock for about $2 a lb which is way way cheaper than doing the whole tank in live rock. And the base rock will turn into live rock after a few weeks and a few months later you wont be able to tell the live from the base I betcha!

Good luck. Your list looks great by the way, so you are about ready to begin! woot!

__________________180g Reef - 60g Rimless Reef -90G FOWLR- 125g Malawi Cichlids- 40bREEF- 34g Fresh Planted-working on- 20L FOWLR- working on
I have a mix of many different saltwater fish amongst my tanks, but I love my Tangs most of all.

For base rock you want very porous rock, this allows the beneifical bacteria and other critters to build little homes and gives you more surface area. The base rock should be light for its size and should be pretty to your eye. I've found the cheap base rock that my LFS's sell is very dense without many holes and in my opinion you can do loads better. If you look at those sites above check out what the rock actually looks like, thats what you are aiming for.

For live rock it's up to you. Some people like fiji, some like tonga some caribbean. I've got a mix of several different types in all of my tanks and it gives a nice look when you switch it up here and there. You will want some flatter pieces so that you can place corals so keep that in mind as well. The rock is the lifeblood of the tank so make your selections as best you can. You can also add all the base rock you want whenever you want so you can add as you go if need be. You cannot add live rock after the cycle if you have living creatures in the tank so get all your live rock up front. It will help tremendously with the cycle as well. It's win win all around.

__________________180g Reef - 60g Rimless Reef -90G FOWLR- 125g Malawi Cichlids- 40bREEF- 34g Fresh Planted-working on- 20L FOWLR- working on
I have a mix of many different saltwater fish amongst my tanks, but I love my Tangs most of all.

The base rock should be extra porous and the live should be whatever he likes pretty much was the point I was trying to make. lol I go with porous rock for both live and base in my tanks but if you wanna switch it up thats what I would do.

The live rock is the rock that can help with the cycling not the base.

Sorry if I wasnt clear.

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__________________180g Reef - 60g Rimless Reef -90G FOWLR- 125g Malawi Cichlids- 40bREEF- 34g Fresh Planted-working on- 20L FOWLR- working on
I have a mix of many different saltwater fish amongst my tanks, but I love my Tangs most of all.